Charlotte and I were in the car earlier today when she came up with one of her random 5-year-old comments: “Jesus had pom-poms, Mama.” “Uh, what?” I’m trying to picture it. Jesus is totally rooting for us, right? Maybe this is wisdom from the mouths of babes. “Yeah, the people laid pom-poms down for him.” OHHHH. Palm fronds. Do you guys follow Humans of New York on Facebook? I’m literally coming up for air after getting sucked down the rabbit hole for like the last hour and half. I read about a Canadian musician with anxiety, a “brother man” who’s trying to help everyone love everyone else (women brother-mans are called sisters, obvi.), a 90-year-old man who “used to be a wimp” until he started running marathons (now he walks 10 miles a day), a lifetime custodian who went to college when he was 50, and a musician who is still reeling from the death of her French horn, the one she played for 20 years. Oh, and an open letter to Trump. (read it, read it.) I love humans. I never get tired of hearing their stories. Here’s one. My mom has had issues with her foot for the last 30 years. She just had surgery this morning! I’m excited for her. It will be a slow healing process for sure, but when it’s over hopefully it will be over! I asked her if she was sad that they hadn’t done the surgery 30 years ago when her foot problems started (it’s actually her Achilles tendon) and she said no, because the doctor told her that they’ve improved this type of surgery a lot. She would have had a recurrence if she had done a long time ago. Hooray for modern medicine! So in the meantime we are just kickin’ back. The kids and I are at her house now (Eric is at home–she only lives an hour away) and I’ll be dragging her up to my house later this week. She’s always there waiting on me hand and foot when I have a new baby, it’s nice to be able to return the favor. News flash guys: Easter is in 12 DAYS. Have you started menu planning yet? I haven’t! Unless by menu planning you count me making Sautéed Carrots and Shallots and eating them all in one sitting. Safe to say I will be making them Easter Sunday too.
You will love this Sautéed Carrot Recipe
My sister-in-law Reesy has been making these carrots for years. They are a huge family favorite. Those shallots! And the thyme! So much flavor. And they only take about 20 minutes to put together. Here’s the thing about side dishes (at least vegetables) at the holidays though: they always need to be done last minute, at the same exact time that you have 87 other things to do. My solution is to make ahead. When you have to get 8 dishes on the table all at once like on Easter, you have to cut some corners. And in the case of these carrots, I think they taste great made 1 day ahead. Make the recipe, store covered in the fridge, then just before everyone sits down to eat, throw them in a pan on medium to heat them up, and they still taste great. I use a similar strategy with these Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts, which would be another great make-ahead side dish for Easter. Happy menu-planning! Definitely check out my Easter Flavors board on Pinterest for more ideas. Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram Slow Cooker Brown Butter Carrots « if you are not using your crock pot for your ham, you could do carrots in the slow cooker! Sautéed Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes « asparagus just embodies spring, right? Garlic-Butter Roasted Carrots from Diethood Maple-Thyme Roasted Carrots from Life Currents Roasted Parmesan Carrots from I Heart Naptime
